Talking Allergies

My husband came home with a bag of grass seed ( for lawns ) with a "peanut free" logo on it. I wasn't aware that grass seed would contain peanuts.

Me neither--thanks for the heads up!

I had to buy some ear drops recently and there were several kinds. Out of habit thankfully I checked ingredients as one had peanut oil as an ingredient.

Were the ear drops Ceruminex? (Not positive if I've spelled that properly.)

These drops are *ear wax remover* and should NOT be used with: middle ear infection, perforated ear drum, tubes in ears.

They also should not be used by anyone with peanut allergy - as they have peanut oil in them

Just noticed Shelly's earlier question re TNX-901 and allergy research.

At the risk of sounding self-promotional , I draw your attention to the article in the Spring '05 Allergic Living called "Vaccine Quest". (There's an excerpt under Features on the homepage.)

The article walks through research on a vaccine that would increase tolerance to peanut (Xolair, the drug now being assessed after TNX-901 was scrapped), and the various options being studied to see if there could be a cure.

If anyone missed that issue, there are still copies available.

Thanks Lisa - I was using that product and I had no idea - I have thrown it out - I have complained also. I will contact the Food and Drug people also - I am beginning to feel like a day is not complete unless I have complained about lack of awareness re: life threatening allergies to some company or government agency!!

Glad that this was of help!

I got a reply from Proctor and Gamble re: the arac.----- acid in the Infusium, and they say there is no peanut or peanut oil, but they cannot guarantee cross contamination from their ingredients, but that it should be safe for peanut allergic individuals. Doesn't that contradict what they said earlier about arac___ acid being a fatty acid derived from peanut?

Yes, that totally contradicts what I was told. I was actually given a rebate after I inquired about this. Although.....maybe in saying there is no "peanut" or "peanut oil" in their product they could mean that the "acid" derived from peanuts has neither the protein nor the oil in it (i.e. it is highly processed)

I guess if we wanted to look into this further the question to ask would be: what is arachidic acid? from what plant product is it derived?

This is what I found on Wikipedia about arachidic acid:

Arachidic acid also called eicosanoic acid is a saturated fatty acids found in peanut oil. It melts at 75.4°C and its chemical formula is CH3(CH2)18COOH.

Scientific Name: Eicosanoic acid
Common Name: Arachidic acid
Other Names: Arachic acid, arachidic acid, icosanoic acid, n-eicosanoic acid
CAS Registry No.: 506-30-9
Molecular Formula: C20H40O2
Formula Weight: 312.53
Melting point: 74-77 °C
Boiling point: 328 °C
Solubility in water: Practically insoluble
Stability: Stable under ordinary conditions
NFPA ratings: Health: 1 Flammability: 0 Reactivity: 0
Reduction of arachidic acid yields arachidyl alcohol.

So there you go, it does come from peanuts. Whether it can create a reaction remains the question, but better err on the side of caution until we know more.

Hi - As we've written in AL, Xolair is the drug they're testing after the scrapping of
TNX-901.

As most of you know, those tests were stopped after two kids reacted while being tested for peanut tolerance BEFORE they were given Xolair. Manufacturers of Xolair are hopeful about getting new clinical tests approved that don't require such pre-screening.

/G